Forums

DOMA & Prop 8 Topic

From the middle of October until next summer the Norwegian Natural History Museum of the University of Oslo will host the first exhibition that focuses on homosexuality in the animal kingdom.

"One fundamental premise in social debates has been that homosexuality is unnatural. This premise is wrong. Homosexuality is both common and highly essential in the lives of a number of species," explains Petter Boeckman, who is the academic advisor for the "Against Nature's Order?" exhibition.

The most well-known homosexual animal is the dwarf chimpanzee, one of humanity's closes relatives. The entire species is bisexual. Sex plays an conspicuous role in all their activities and takes the focus away from violence, which is the most typical method of solving conflicts among primates and many other animals.

"Sex among dwarf chimpanzees is in fact the business of the whole family, and the cute little ones often lend a helping hand when they engage in oral sex with each other."

Lions are also homosexual. Male lions often band together with their brothers to lead the pride. To ensure loyalty, they strengthen the bonds by often having sex with each other.

Homosexuality is also quite common among dolphins and killer whales. The pairing of males and females is fleeting, while between males, a pair can stay together for years. Homosexual sex between different species is not unusual either. Meetings between different dolphin species can be quite violent, but the tension is often broken by a "sex orgy".

Homosexuality is a social phenomenon and is most widespread among animals with a complex herd life.

Among the apes it is the females that create the continuity within the group. The social network is maintained not only by sharing food and the child rearing, but also by having sex. Among many of the female apes the sex organs swell up. So they rub their abdomens against each other," explains Petter Bockman and points out that animals have sex because they have the desire to, just like we humans.

Homosexual behaviour has been observed in 1,500 animal species.

"We're talking about everything from mammals to crabs and worms. The actual number is of course much higher. Among some animals homosexual behaviour is rare, some having sex with the same gender only a part of their life, while other animals, such as the dwarf chimpanzee, homosexuality is practiced throughout their lives."

Animals that live a completely homosexual life can also be found. This occurs especially among birds that will pair with one partner for life, which is the case with geese and ducks. Four to five percent of the couples are homosexual. Single females will lay eggs in a homosexual pair's nest. It has been observced that the homosexual couple are often better at raising the young than heterosexual couples.

When you see a colony of black-headed gulls, you can be sure that almost every tenth pair is lesbian. The females have no problems with being impregnated, although, according to Petter Boeckman they cannot be defined as bisexual.

"If a female has sex with a male one time, but thousands of times with another female, is she bisexual or homosexual? This is the same way to have children is not unknown among homosexual people."

Indeed, there is a number of animals in which homosexual behaviour has never been observed, such as many insects, passerine birds and small mammals.

Posted by bad_luck on 6/14/2013 9:42:00 AM (view original):State laws banned it. 1967 was when the Supreme Court ruled that those laws were illegal.

Did SCOTUS change the definition of marriage?

I'll assume not so I don't think this situation applies. Therefore, precedent was NOT set in 1967,

I don't see the difference. State laws defined marriage as two people of the same race. SCOTUS said that was a violation of the 14th amendment and overturned the laws, redefining marriage to include interracial couples.

Posted by bad_luck on 6/14/2013 9:42:00 AM (view original):State laws banned it. 1967 was when the Supreme Court ruled that those laws were illegal.

Did SCOTUS change the definition of marriage?

I'll assume not so I don't think this situation applies. Therefore, precedent was NOT set in 1967,

I don't see the difference. State laws defined marriage as two people of the same race. SCOTUS said that was a violation of the 14th amendment and overturned the laws, redefining marriage to include interracial couples.

I think you do see the difference. One man, one woman. That has been the accepted definition in the US since the US became a country. States took matters into their own hands to ban interracial marriages. SCOTUS said "Uh, no" and that was that. Surprisingly, the laws were still on the books until the late 90s in some states. But SCOTUS never changed the accepted definition of marriage.

The words tell who you choose to be with. Attraction is just one thing that can affect that decision.

I actually enjoying telling those lies.

I didn't expect this from you, burnsy, but it's nice someone can admit their agenda.

I actually enjoying telling the lies of parking in my driveway and driving in the parkway as well.

We were over this before - there is no agenda to define these words in an illogical manner, while there is quite the purposeful agenda to define sexuality by attraction rather than action. That's a HUGE difference.

It seems the main point of your post was to show how homosexual behavior is akin to animal behavior. I agree.

Many people choose to act like animals on a regular basis, and rarely does it ever lead to anything good.

People follow their hormones (like animals) and have sex without thinking about it and wind up with diseases and children they can't care for or afford. Men chase after women and commit various crimes and indiscretions because they follow those same hormones. People violently defend their "territory" (like animals) with guns, knives, and other assorted fighting and violent actions.

Indeed, it seems ALL some people know is how to act like an animal. They eat, sleep, urinate, defecate, have sex, get violent, and generally act ignorantly. If you don't believe that, go to any number of urban areas and observe the majority of today's youth there.

So it's not surprising that homosexuality is one more animal-like behavior, as it doesn't do anything good for society either.

It seems the main point of your post was to show how homosexual behavior is akin to animal behavior. I agree.

Many people choose to act like animals on a regular basis, and rarely does it ever lead to anything good.

People follow their hormones (like animals) and have sex without thinking about it and wind up with diseases and children they can't care for or afford. Men chase after women and commit various crimes and indiscretions because they follow those same hormones. People violently defend their "territory" (like animals) with guns, knives, and other assorted fighting and violent actions.

Indeed, it seems ALL some people know is how to act like an animal. They eat, sleep, urinate, defecate, have sex, get violent, and generally act ignorantly. If you don't believe that, go to any number of urban areas and observe the majority of today's youth there.

So it's not surprising that homosexuality is one more animal-like behavior, as it doesn't do anything good for society either.

From that article, I gather two things:
1. The homosexual animals are actually bisexual.
2. Homosexual activity, rather than violence, is used to solve potential conflict and promote harmony within the group.